Open Day 2025
Our fifth Open Day took place on the 8th November at the Windsor Baptist Church. hall was packed with interesting displays about local history, and our members were taking questions. We welcomed back the Friends of the Museum and also a special visit by Rebecca Steear of Windsor Carriages and Stephanie Lewis of the Windsor and Royal Borough Museum.
Opening by the Mayor
Mayor Brar opened the event. She was first elected to the Cookham Parish Council 33 years ago, and her current term is her third as borough councillor for Bisham and Cookham Ward. She is the mayor for 2025 – 26.
Our chair, Margaret Kirby, hosted the Mayor, guiding her round the various displays and making introductions to the various volunteers present.
Windsor Carriages
Rebecca Steear, aka “The Coachman’s Daughter”, of Windsor Carriages had an excellent display of models, photographs and boards over the years. It proved very popular with the community, who had a great opportunity to learn more about the oldest and last licensed hackney carriage operators in the Royal Borough, continuing a 165-year-old tradition.
The Museum
Our local Museum was well represented by Stephanie, the Museum’s Manager, and by the Friends of the Museum. 2025 has been a testing year with tight financial targets and controls being imposed. At one time, the threat of imminent closure was real. That said, Steph and her team, with support from the Friends, and tight fiscal management, have managed to keep it open and open to the public two days a week.
Other Displays
There was a range of other displays, including Princess Margaret Rose School, the Eton Excelsior Boat Club, Windsor Central Station, Windsor & Eton Express from 1863 to 1864, and also about Bambridge family of Windsor. There was also a rolling display on the TVs.
The Volunteers
Of course, the Open Day would not happen without all the various volunteers from the Group, the Friends of the Museum and our guest presenters. A huge thanks goes out to each and every one of them. Your help was invaluable.
Open Day 2024
On Saturday, 2nd October, we had our fourth annual Open Day at the Windsor Baptist Church in Windsor.
Opening by The Mayor
We were pleased to welcome the Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Simon Bond, to open our event. He and his Consort, David Armitage, spent a lot of time with us, looking at the exhibits, and also chatting with visitors.
The Volunteers
We managed to corral most of the volunteers from both the WLHG and the Friends of the Museum to enable us to take a quick photo with the Mayor.
Princess Margaret Rose
Many of our visitors had been pupils at our stand with photos from the Princess Margaret School for Girls that had been located in Windsor. Many of our members are ex-pupils and there was lots of story sharing and renewal of acquaintances going on.
Windsor Central Station
Our three A0 posters recording the history of the famous GWR branch line from Slough to Windsor Central proved popular. There was even a rolling presentation on the big screens dotted about.
Newspapers
A welcome addition was the availability of a variety of old, well-kept newspapers from various momentous occasions. From the HM Queen’s accession to the throne, to the infamous 911, most of the last 75 years major events were covered.
Info Sheets
Short bites of history and maps were printed out and laminated. They were scattered on the various tables in the hall. They proved popular with visitors whilst taking a tea or just a wee rest.
Maps and Blue Plaques
At various places in the hall we had displays of old Windsor maps over the years, and also a Blue Plaques quiz. These really tested the knowledge of our visitors and provided much fun.
Sales Table
The sales table proved popular again. It had a plethora of new and second-hand books at a reasonable price, and also copies of our new publication – Windlesora 38 – and back issues too.
Our Local MP
Jack Rankin , the Conservative MP for Windsor, took time out from his schedule to visit our Open Day. His Facebook page reported: “Fantastic to visit the Windsor Local History exhibition at Windsor Baptist Church at the weekend. Lots of interesting pieces from all aspects of Windsor’s history on display. Great to see it so busy. Well done to all of the volunteers for their work in putting this together.” We appreciated his visit and support.
Friends of the Museum
We were pleased that our chums from the Friends of the Museum were able to attend. Gerald and Len from their committee manned the sales table with a plethora of Museum-related mementos and they had a rolling presentation too.
Windsor Baptist Church
We would like to thank the Revd. Kat Bracewell and her team for hosting us, providing the facilities and manning the tea room.
Set-up
Volunteers were working both on Friday afternoon and early Saturday morning setting up the hall, the exhibits and the sales table.
Windsor Local History Group 